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THE QUESTION
China and religious freedom
In President Obama's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week, should discussion of human rights and religious freedom be on par with economic and environmental issues, or should human rights and religious freedom be secondary matters?
Posted by
Elizabeth Tenety on January 18, 2011 12:50 PM
FROM THE PANEL
Are money and freedom exclusive?
In President Obama's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week, should discussion of human rights and religious freedom be on par with economic and environmental issues, or should human rights and religious freedom be secondary matters? Last year, the...
Posted by Shmully Hecht, on January 21, 2011 2:48 PM
Strategic mutual sincerity
It matters little whether human rights is on par with economic an environmental issues or is a secondary issue in the diplomatic relationship between China and the United States. What matters is that human rights, religious freedom, and all the issues confronting the two nations are handled with sincerity.
Posted by Valerie Elverton Dixon, on January 21, 2011 9:01 AM
Beyond the dominion of dollars
Our economy is so dependent on continued good relations with China, that I doubt any president, from any party, will rock the boat any time soon in the name of the Dalai Lama, dissident Christian groups, or any other faith that displeases that nation's government. If America is the world's policeman, it's a cop on the make willing to look the other way in the name of profit.
Posted by Jason Pitzl-Waters, on January 19, 2011 1:00 PM
'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere'
The U.S. has long claimed to be a nation where human rights and religious freedom are paramount. Can we walk that talk? Unless we want those concepts to remain nothing more than sweet, useless rhetoric in the world, we have to stop turning a blind eye and bowing...to those who ignore human rights simply in hopes that they can benefit us economically.
Posted by Ramdas Lamb, on January 19, 2011 12:53 PM
Freedom intrinsic to who we are as Americans
American foreign policy is not American if religious freedom is not a priority. Religious freedom is not a geo-political issue, nor is it Republican or Democrat: it is simply a function of who we are as a people.
Posted by Chris Seiple, on January 19, 2011 9:24 AM
Human rights crucial but complex
Of course the talks must focus on human rights. But rights are not the freeing of dissidents alone. Rights cannot be divorced from economics. Rights cannot be divorced from plagiarism, internet access, governmental relations and overall economic health.
Posted by David Wolpe, on January 18, 2011 9:58 PM
Will Obama preach the American sermon to Hu?
Human rights, religious freedom and environmental issues are the three points in America's current sermon to the world. Instead of being paid for preaching it, we pay a stiff price for doing so. But we should preach it.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on January 18, 2011 7:48 PM
Economics, human welfare inexctricably tied
In President Obama's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week, should discussion of human rights and religious freedom be on par with economic and environmental issues, or should human rights and religious freedom be secondary matters? When President Obama...
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on January 18, 2011 5:25 PM
Economy, environment and rights are connected
We make a mistake when we think that issues of economy, environment, and peace can be disconnected from the issue of human rights.
Posted by Fr. Frank Pavone, on January 18, 2011 5:21 PM
Claiming the moral highground
I find it difficult to say whether President Obama's discussion with President Hu should be more about economic issues or human rights, because the two are so intimately related.
Posted by Herb Silverman, on January 18, 2011 4:40 PM
Religious liberty good for religion & the state
The message that I would suggest the president articulate is that, in the final analysis, full fledged religious liberty will actually promote a "harmonious society" more than divisive governmental intervention into the religious demography --favoring some, disfavoring (even persecuting) others.
Posted by J. Brent Walker, on January 18, 2011 2:29 PM
Human rights must be the priority
Obama and Hu Jintao cannot discuss the important issues of economic and environmental policies in any meaningful way without first addressing the enormous elephant in the room. That bloated, trumpeting beast is the brutal inhumanity of China's one child policy.
Posted by Danielle Bean, on January 21, 2010 7:45 PM
